Ohne Dich Kann Ich Nicht Sein, Ohne Dich, Mit Dir Bin Ich Auch Allein, Ohne Dich, Ohne Dich Zähl Ich

I am the Doctor, and you are the Daleks!

The Eleventh Doctor

Two of my favorite movies.

I once discussed with some rightwinged people about ethnicity. And they said that blacks were a "subhuman" race because they are "obviously" less intelligent than other ethnic groups and that they never invented something or had a culture as Europeans or Persian cultures. But I honestly didn't have a good answer. Do you have some resources on why blacks haven't made such things in comparison to other ethnic groups?

I’m not going to pretend that I’m surprised or shocked to hear this because I, too, live in America, and have encountered this from Conservative Republicans aka Conservative Christians aka Evangelicals aka oblivious racists who claim they aren’t racist because they either have a black friend or have / “know” (talk to, from time to time) some black people in their lives (who have absolutely no idea how racist they are because the don’t actually “know” them, they simply hold basic, watered-down conversations with no substance that allows said white person to be chummy without actually divulging anything about themselves. That being said… 

Point any racist but “totally not racist” people to the ‘List of African-American inventors and scientists’ on Wikipedia; The Black inventor Online Museum because that’s a thing; and I also recommend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s beautiful and enlightening kid-friendly book ‘What Color Is My World? The Lost History of African-American Inventors’ (image below): 

Share with them the ‘History of science and technology in Africa’ on Wikipedia; and for those you encounter who know that there are such things as libraries and museums but can’t seem to you know, make an effort to actually visit them, there’s a resource for that provided by the Institute of Museum and Library Services called, appropriately, ‘The Digital Public Library of America’ which permits you to look up local libraries nearest you via address or zip code.

Find Your Library (alternative sources here, here, and here)

Below are some recommended educational programs I highly recommend as well, for the “visual learner”….

FIRST PEOPLES (PBS)

See how the mixing of prehistoric human genes led the way for our species to survive and thrive around the globe. Archaeology, genetics and anthropology cast new light on 200,000 years of history, detailing how early humans became dominant. 

Review here.

BECOMING HUMAN (NOVA)

Nothing is more fascinating to us than, well, us. Where did we come from? What makes us human? An explosion of recent discoveries sheds light on these questions, and NOVA’s comprehensive, three-part special, “Becoming Human,” examines what the latest scientific research reveals about our hominid relatives—putting together the pieces of our human past and transforming our understanding of our earliest ancestors.

Featuring interviews with world-renowned scientists, each hour unfolds with a CSI-like forensic investigation into the life and death of a specific hominid ancestor. The programs were shot “in the trenches” where discoveries were unearthed throughout Africa and Europe. Dry bones spring back to life with stunning computer-generated animation and prosthetics. Fossils not only give us clues to what early hominids looked like, but, with the aid of ingenious new lab techniques, how they lived and how we became the creative, thinking humans of today.

Review here.

THE INCREDIBLE HUMAN JOURNEY (BBC)

A five-episode, 300 minute, science documentary film presented by Alice Roberts, based on her related book. The film was first broadcast on BBC television in May and June 2009 in the UK. It explains the evidence for the theory of early human migrations out of Africa and subsequently around the world, supporting the Out of Africa Theory. This theory claims that all modern humans are descended from anatomically modern African Homo sapiens rather than from the more archaic European and Middle Eastern Homo neanderthalensis or the indigenous Chinese Homo pekinensis, and that the modern African Homo sapiens did not interbreed with the other species of genus Homo. Each episode concerns a different continent, and the series features scenes filmed on location in each of the continents featured.

Related review of Alice Roberts’ book by the same name of which this program was adapted, here.

ORIGINS OF US (BBC)

Science series telling the story of human evolution through changes in human anatomy, examining how the human body has adapted through seven million years of evolution.

PREHISTORIC AUTOPSY (BBC)

A journey into our evolutionary past, piecing together the bodies of our prehistoric family, discussing the remains of early hominins such as Neanderthals, Homo erectus, and Australopithecus afarensis.

‘CHILDREN OF AFRICA (THE STORY OF US)’ (melodysheep)

With referenced material from BBC Incredible Human Journey, BBC Ascent of Man, BBC Life of Mammals, BBC Human Planet, BBC Walking With Cavemen, and excerpts from various lectures, ‘Children of Africa’ is a musical celebration of humanity, its origins, and achievements, contrasted with a somber look at our environmentally destructive tendencies and deep similarities with other primates. Featuring Jacob Bronowski, Alice Roberts, Carolyn Porco, Jane Goodall, Robert Sapolsky, Neil deGrasse Tyson and David Attenborough.

ORIGINS: THE JOURNEY OF HUMANKIND (NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC)

Hosted by Jason Silva, Origins: The Journey of Humankind rewinds all the way back to the beginning and traces the innovations that made us modern.

Related interview/reviews here, here, here, and here.

‘ORIGINS’ ANNOUNCEMENT TRAILER PRODUCED BY MELODYSHEEP

Of course, I could go on and on and on referencing various resources to provide people who have unintentionally “inherited” this perspective or who are stuck in a feedback loop within their echo chamber of ignorance, but let’s be honest, the only thing that can actually influence impactful change into a racist person’s mind is the will to self educate, and personal human experience obtained from intimate conversation with diverse ethnicities and cultures. I do hope this helps.

I watched a snail crawl along the edge of a straight razor. That's my dream. That's my nightmare: crawling, slithering, along the edge of a straight razor and surviving.

Colonel Walter E. Kurtz

Darrell Sweet cover art for a 1978 edition of Space Cadet by Robert A. Heinlein.

Solar System: 2015 Year in Review

Two mysterious worlds explored for the first time. Liquid water seen flowing on Mars. A global ocean discovered hiding inside a moon of Saturn. Even during our Era of audacious solar system exploration, 2015 stands out. Here are a few highlights:

1. New Horizons Reveals the Face of Pluto

Whether or not you call it a planet, Pluto entranced the people of Earth when it sent a love note from three billion miles away via our New Horizons spacecraft.

2. Dawn Comes to Ceres

The dwarf planet Ceres, the largest object in the main asteroid belt, teased explorers with its bizarre bright spots before finally giving up some of its secrets to the Dawn spacecraft. HERE are the latest findings.

3. Cassini Marks Discoveries and Milestones at Enceladus

When the Cassini spacecraft performs its final close flyby of Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus on Dec. 19, it will be a true milestone. Scientists using data from Cassini’s instruments have uncovered astounding secrets about this small moon, including (confirmed this year) the fact that its underground ocean of liquid water is global, and is home to hydrothermal vents.

4. We Confirmed Evidence that Liquid Water Flows on Today’s Mars

Findings from our Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) provided the strongest evidence yet that liquid water flows intermittently — on present-day Mars.

5. Rosetta Passes Perihelion

The European Space Agency’s Rosetta mission had a remarkable year, re-establishing contact with the Philae lander and following comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko as it swung near the sun.

6. Mars Explorers Confirm Lakes Once Dotted Mars

A study from the team behind our Mars Science Laboratory/Curiosity Rover confirmed that Mars was once, billions of years ago, capable of storing water in lakes over an extended period of time.

7. MAVEN Finds a Culprit in the Loss of Mars’ Atmosphere

The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission identified the process that appears to have played a key role in the transition of the Martian climate from an early, warm and wet environment that might have supported surface life to the cold, arid planet that Mars is today.

8. Akatsuki Gets a Second Chance at Venus

Five years after a mishap sent the spacecraft off course, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) successfully inserted the Venus Climate Orbiter “Akatsuki” into orbit around Venus. While the mission is not funded by NASA, an agency partnership with JAXA provides an opportunity for eight of our scientists to work with the Akatsuki team and study data from the spacecraft over the next year or so.

9. A Trailblazing Mission Sends Its Final Message from Mercury

After a flight of nearly 11 years, the highly successful MESSENGER mission ended when, as planned, the spacecraft slammed into the surface of Mercury.

10. Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Completes 40,000 Orbits

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, at Mars since 2006, has orbited the Red Planet more than 40,000 times. The mission, which studies the whole planet from space, has shown that Mars is diverse and dynamic by way of many thousands of spectacular images and other kinds of data.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com

‘Doctor Who’ series 1-9 in chronological order

Fascinating concept

http://io9.gizmodo.com/how-soviet-artists-imagined-communist-life-in-space-1558140402